a list of things

image via  

Bear and I are heading back to the States for a few months this weekend - after some recent events, I realized how much we needed to be back there to be with family and give my soul a much needed rest.  While driving to meet some friends the other day, I got really excited about some things that I had missed from home in the almost 9 months since moving to Germany. Namely:

• Kombucha
• stores open on Sunday
• a yard for Bear
• Television + movies in English
• being able to watch YouTube (darn you GEMA)
• lack of a 19% VAT tax
• not having to drive 40 mins to see friends
• going shopping 
• T.J.Maxx & Target
• free Wi-Fi!
• having a reliable car
• family
• being able to read labels in stores
• not having to check conversion rates (instantly followed by a feeling of depression)

But then I realized there's a lot I'm also going to miss

• not having to worry if your food has GMOs in it
• not having to worry if your meat has growth hormones and antibiotics in it
• alcohol not having a negative connotation 
• the autobahn and lack of a speed limit (my lead foot will miss this the most)
• the ice cream, coffee and baked goods
• taking Bear into restaurants / clothing stores / etc. and no one being afraid of him
• feeling enjoyment in the smallest things: i.e.: while I may not being able to read labels in stores, I am sure as heck able to sing along with Justin Timberlake or Lady Gaga playing on the speakers in perfect English.  Small victories.

I've been frustrated a lot with our situation of late, mainly because the distance (from friends here, from family in the states and from my husband 3,00 miles the other direction) has made life pretty boring.  We're ready to go home, and I can't wait. 

remember when...

I went on vacation?  I mentioned a little something about it here.  Well, here's a little recap over at the Trashy Diva blog.  Enjoy!

yup, the vacation indeed involves a camel

what a vacation sounds like

While watching Portlandia for the first time this weekend (and drinking hot toddies, all in the name of cold care) I couldn't help but wonder who is behind the awesomely awesome song for the opening credits. Well I did a little research and I came up with Ernest Greene

image via thesoundmedium

He's more than a guy who looks like a frat boy from an SEC school.  He's the mastermind behind Washed Out, a chill wave project that's been featured in Adult Swim, and of course, Portlandia.  Interestingly enough, he's kind of a success story for the recent economic situation - He's my age and when he found himself with a college degree, unemployed and living at home with his parents, he decided to pursue his true passion for music.  He set up a studio in his bedroom and posted his recordings on his Myspace page (didn't think anyone still had one of those...).  Fast forward to 2012, when he's signed to a record label and released an album this past July.  And I thank you, Wikipedia, for all of that information.

Listen to the full version of the Portlandia opening theme ("Feel It All Around") here 

To listen to more of Washed Out's music, go here

In my opinion, if Washed Out's music were an image, this would be it:

view of Maspalomas from our Balinese sunbed in the Canary Islands.  Bliss

Could be why his stuff has been on a constant loop round this house as of late... it's grey and cold out and his music makes me think of blue skies, a warm breeze, sand, sun and my hubs not being 3,000 miles away.

feel better 2012

There has kind of been a lull in posting recently, because well, not much has been going on of late.  Germany's been a bit dreary (think lots of grey and lots of damp-ness. And no, not in the form of snow.)  Christmas was a low-key event, where I mozy-ed downstairs at 10am, made my coffee, sat on the couch, opened  my one gift (this fantastic book), sat on the couch to read said gift, and then went and got ready for dinner at a friend's house that night.  New Year's was almost an exact carbon copy - where last year hubs and I traipsed around The Roosevelt Hotel and then watched the fireworks from Jackson Square, this year I took my life in my hands and drove to Würzburg for dinner and watching the fireworks from the bridge.  No, I didn't get any pictures, because:

• my old-school iPhone 3G is in no way up for the challenge of trying to take pictures of fireworks,
• I lost the battery charger to my real camera and have been too lazy to shell out $50 (!) for a new one.  
• the smoke and haze for the self fired-fireworks makes it nearly impossible to see anything.  Germans are given 24 hours to set off fireworks legally and wow they go crazy.   

My friend Charlie took the lone picture from the night:

2012 from the bridge in Wurzburg.  Thanks Charlie

So after ringing in the new year, I made the trek to Frankfurt to collect my dad for his visit to Germany. But of course, the gross and cold weather really hindered our plans to do much sightseeing.  So essentially, for my dad, Germany consisted of lots of Pilsner, a migraine, 30 degree temps with just rain, an afternoon of snow that didn't stick and lots of rumpsteak, potatoes and schnitzel.  Now, he's back in the US and I'm fighting a terrible cold with strong hot toddies, episodes of Portlandia (how have I never seen that show before!?) and hot soup.  Thank heavens me and the Bear are off to the US at the end of this month, so we need to hang in there until then.  Just like my cold, I hope 2012 gets better soon.